In a statement to the SAC steering board and NATO Airlift Management Organization Board of Directors at a semi-annual meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, Boone stated "as the HAW commander I have the privilege to declare that effective 14 November 2012 the Strategic Airlift Capability Heavy Airlift Wing has reached full operational capability."

The SAC is a cooperative effort of 12 nations: Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden and the United States. Its operational arm, the HAW, is stationed at Papa Air Base, Hungary, and flies worldwide missions with Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft.

The HAW was activated on July 27, 2009, and reached initial operational capability on May 25, 2010. During this initial period the wing not only became a well-trained international military airlift unit, but also proved capable of supporting the participating nations with strategic airlift missions in all major operational areas.

As preconditions to be fully operational, the wing can safely and effectively conduct the entire range of missions assigned to it with three C-17 aircraft, full manning, sufficient infrastructure and logistical sustainment. The wing is supported by the participating SAC nations, the host nation of Hungary, the NATO Airlift Management Program and Boeing Field Services. Post-FOC, the HAW is able to produce the annual flight hours required by the SAC member nations.

Boone lauded the unit when he said, "The men and women of the Heavy Airlift Wing, along with their families, have worked exceptionally hard to build a team that is second to none. Together with the mission partners here at Papa Air Base and around the world, we have forged a great example of pooling and sharing, smart defense, and smart support. I am extremely proud to lead such a diverse, talented, and focused bunch of professionals.

"FOC is a significant achievement in the short history of the HAW. The future remains before us, and it is bright indeed. We might be 12 nations, but we are one team, one mission, one vision!"

Since the delivery of the first aircraft in July 2009, the HAW has flown more than 8,000 flight hours, delivered more than 24,000 tons of cargo and moved more than 32,000 passengers for the SAC nations across six continents, including missions to Haiti, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and South Africa.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Missouri National Guard's Vigilant Guard training exercise concluded Wednesday, after a five day period that was a response to a simulated earthquake that took place along the New Madrid fault line.

Vigilant Guard was a worst-case scenario natural disaster exercise that was a response to the last ten years in the state of Missouri, which saw flooding, ice storms and the Joplin tornado, said Maj. Gen. Stephen L. Danner, adjutant general of the Missouri National Guard.

"More than 4,600 Soldiers, Airmen and civilian partners participated in this exercise, which is one of the largest Missouri has ever organized," Danner said. "It was an outstanding opportunity for our force to test our processes and capabilities. The Missouri National Guard is the most seasoned, battle-tested force we've ever fielded, but we are always looking for ways to improve ourselves so we can better serve the state."

Col. William Blaylock, the Director of Strategic Plan and Exercises for the Missouri National Guard, was also pleased with the results of the Vigilant Guard exercise.

"From a soldier-standpoint and even the civilians, we have had tremendous cooperation and participation," Blaylock said. "Missouri Guard soldiers and soldiers in general are trained to rise to the occasion when orders are not given, and everyone has done a great job in that sense."

In Columbia, Soldiers and Airmen worked alongside civilian agencies including Missouri Task Force 1, a FEMA urban search and rescue team, to practice skills including search and extraction and decontamination. The training was especially realistic because it included role players who acted as victims.

The teams in Columbia reported to the Guard's Joint Operations Center, or, JOC, in Jefferson City. The JOC is the central nerve hub of the Missouri National Guard. Danner recently expanded the JOC to give the Soldiers, Airmen and civilians working within a more effective working environment. Vigilant Guard was the Guard's first opportunity to utilize the new facility, said Maj. Brett Cooper, chief of current operations in the Joint Operations Center.

"It was a wise decision to move from what we were using previously to where we are today," Cooper said. "It's really going to benefit the citizens, which is ultimately why we're here and why we're working together today."

Columbia saw a variety of staged missions, including search and rescue from destroyed buildings, decontamination from chemical waste outbreak, as well as medical treatment tents for civilian who were suffering from different injuries sustained due to the mock earthquake.

In Jefferson City, the 1438th Engineer Company completed a successful bridge building exercise along the river, which saw pieces of bridging be loaded into the water, and be pieced together.

The unit also completed a similar exercise the previous day at the Macon Training Site.

Similar missions also took place around the southeastern portion of the state, which is where the mock 6.7 magnitude earthquake took place.

Not only were Guardsmen working hard to support the simulated exercise, but members of the 735th Field Service Company Family Readiness Group worked to secure supplies for those participating in Vigilant Guard, coordinating donations from multiple vendors that were sold at the training exercises in Columbia, to help raise money for Missouri Guardsmen and their families.

"Our job as soldiers in the Missouri National Guard is to protect and defend this state, and this exercise is training for that mission," Blaylock said. "We work with civilians and other state agencies to ensure we are protecting and taking care of the citizens of the state of Missouri."

As the next secretive flight of the U.S. Air Force's robotic X-37B mini-shuttle draws closer, analysts are keeping a close eye on China’s own potential space plane, the Shenlong.

Last year several Chinese media outlets reported a test flight of the Shenlong space plane that apparently included its airdrop from an H-6 bomber. But the nature of the Shenlong project's testing, as well as what the robot vehicle truly represents, remains sketchy.

Several China watchers in the U.S. have taken a stab at what the Shenlong (Mandarin for "Divine Dragon) might mean, with some experts conjecturing that the craft is simply a tit-for-tat response to the unmanned X-37B space plane.

Thursday, November 08, 2012

(Reuters) - China appears to be within two
years of deploying submarine-launched nuclear weapons, adding a new leg to its
nuclear arsenal that should lead to arms-reduction talks, a draft report by a
congressionally mandated U.S. commission says.

China is alone among the original nuclear weapons states to be expanding its
nuclear forces, the report said. The others are the United States, Russia,
Britain and France.
Beijing is "on the cusp of attaining a credible nuclear triad of land-based
intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and
air-dropped nuclear bombs," the report says.
China has had a largely symbolic ballistic missile submarine capability for
decades but is only now set to establish a "near-continuous at-sea strategic
deterrent," the draft said.
Chinese President Hu Jintao has made it a priority to modernize the country's
navy. China launched its first aircraft carrier, purchased from Ukraine and then
refurbished, in September.

The deployment of a hard-to-track, submarine-launched leg of China's nuclear
arsenal could have significant consequences in East Asia and beyond. It also
could add to tensions between the United States and China, the world's two
biggest economies.
Any Chinese effort to ensure a retaliatory capability against a U.S. nuclear
strike "would necessarily affect Indian and Russian perceptions about the
potency of their own deterrent capabilities vis-à-vis China," the report said,
for instance.

Beijing already has deployed two of as many as five of a new class of
nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine. The JIN-class boat is due to carry
the JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile with an estimated range of about
7,400 km (4,600 miles).
The new submarines and the JL-2 missile will give Chinese forces its "first
credible sea-based nuclear capability," the U.S. Defense Department said in its
own 2012 annual report to Congress on military and security developments
involving China.

The detachment, which is located at Offutt AFB, Neb., is responsible for operating and maintaining the advanced atmospheric research equipment aboard the specially-configured WC-135 aircraft in support of the U.S. Atomic Energy Detection System.

USAEDS is a global network of nuclear detection sensors that monitor underground, underwater spaced based or atmospheric events. AFTAC is the sole Department of Defense agency tasked with operating the USAEDS for nuclear event detection, which is directly linked to the center's nuclear treaty monitoring mission.

The Air Force has two specially-configured WC-135s in its inventory. Interestingly, the jet that visited Patrick AFB, #667, was also the aircraft that was tasked to assist during Operation Tomodachi, the DoD's response to the earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in Japan in March 2011.

During the very early stages of the nuclear meltdown of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant on the Pacific coast of Japan, the WC-135 flew nine missions and analyzed 660 samples, which were forwarded to national laboratories for further examination and analysis. Fukushima was the largest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986, where the WC-135 also played a major role in tracking radioactive debris from that plant's disaster.

"One of the great success stories for Det. 1 was the fact that AFTAC's analysis of the Tomodachi airborne samples enabled our scientists to develop plume models that provided scientific evidence for senior leaders to make critical decisions regarding the evacuation of Americans in Japan," said Lt. Col. John Baycura, detachment commander. "We were able to collect, analyze and disseminate data that was considered the best in the nation - and was provided to the highest levels of our government."

Their efforts paid off: AFTAC's Tomodachi team was nominated for the prestigious Samuel J. Heyman Service to America medal, a national level award that recognizes significant contributions by those in federal service.

As people made their way through and around the aircraft on Patrick's flightline, crewmembers briefed visitors on the features and capabilities of the atmospheric collection suite, which allows the mission crew to detect radioactive 'clouds' in real time.

"Our aircraft is equipped with external flow devices that allow us to collect airborne particulate on filter paper and a compressor system for whole air samples," said Staff Sgt. Matt Wilkens, Det. 1 Noncommissioned Officer in Charge of current operations. "The particulate samples are collected using a device that works like an old Wurlitzer jukebox. An arm grabs the paper from its slot and moves it to the exterior of the fuselage. After exposure, it is returned to the filter magazine where a new paper is selected for use. It's a simple, yet effective, concept."

The WC-135 has been in the Air Force inventory since 1965 and currently supports the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963, which prohibits any nation from testing nuclear weapons above ground. The Constant Phoenix is the only aircraft in the USAF that conducts air sampling operations. The cockpit crews are from the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron at Offutt AFB.

"I was really impressed and really glad I had a chance to see the plane in person," said Yamilka Camacho, AFTAC Human Resources assistant. "I've been working at AFTAC for three years and knew what the Constant Phoenix' mission was, but getting to see it up close and listen to the crew talk about the equipment really put it all in perspective for me."

Monday, November 05, 2012

Story byBill Gertz on the Washington Free Beacon websiteA Russian nuclear-powered attack submarine cruised within 200 miles of the East Coast recently in the latest sign Russia is continuing to flex its naval and aerial power against the United States, defense officials said.

The submarine was identified by its NATO designation as a Russian Seirra-2 class submarine believed to be based with Russia’s Northern Fleet. It was the first time that class of Russian submarine had been detected near a U.S. coast, said officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of anti-submarine warfare efforts.

One defense official said the submarine was believed to have been conducting anti-submarine warfare efforts against U.S. ballistic and cruise missile submarines based at Kings Bay, Georgia.
A second official said the submarine did not sail close to Kings Bay and also did not threaten a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group that was conducting exercises in the eastern Atlantic.

Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base, north of Jacksonville, Fla., is homeport for two guided missile submarines and six nuclear missile submarines. The submarines are known to be a target of Russian attack submarines.

Meanwhile, the officials also said that a Russian electronic intelligence-gathering vessel was granted safe harbor in the commercial port of Jacksonville, Fla., within listening range of Kings Bay.
The Russian AGI ship, or Auxiliary-General Intelligence, was allowed to stay in the port to avoid the superstorm that battered the U.S. East Coast last week. A Jacksonville Port Authority spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the Russian AGI at the port.

“A Russian AGI and an SSN in the same geographic area as one of the largest U.S. ballistic missile submarine bases—Kings Bay—is reminiscent of Cold War activities of the Soviet navy tracking the movements of our SSBN’s,” said a third U.S. official, referring to the designation for ballistic missile submarines, SSBN.

The Sierra II (Project 945.A - Кондор/Kondor) class has a considerably larger sail which is 16.5 ft (5.0 m) longer than the Sierra I type. The sail also has a curious flat, square leading edge. The masts are offset on the starboard side to make way for two escape pods in the sail. The starboard side also has a 10-point environment sensor fitted at right angles to the front end of the sail. Also, the Sierra II type has a much larger pod on its after fin. The pod houses the Skat 3 passive very low frequency towed array.

The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) returned to homeport at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., for the last time Sunday under its own power, ending a storied era of service at sea in all the nation’s wars and conflicts since the Cuban Missile Crisis 50 years ago.

Thousands of family members and spectators were on hand as tugboats nudged the Navy’s first nuclear carrier dockside and the ship’s crew began the delicate work of shutting down her eight reactors.

“Homecoming will no doubt be a bittersweet day,” said Capt. William C. Hamilton, the ship’s commander, before the Enterprise arrived from her 25th and last deployment. “To know that it is the last time Enterprise will be underway through her own power makes our return very sentimental.”
On her last journey, the Enterprise cruised nearly 81,000 miles in a 238-day deployment to the Persian Gulf and her aircraft flew more than 2,000 sorties in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

This has not been a victory lap for Enterprise, by any means,” said Rear Adm. Ted Carter, commander of the Enterprise Carrier Strike Group. “This has been a full combat operation. It’s been a business as usual kind of deployment.”

The decommissioning of the Enterprise will leave the Navy with 10 carriers and likely make deployments longer and turnarounds quicker for the carrier fleet, as the Navy has committed to a two-carrier deployment to the Persian Gulf region indefinitely to counter the threat from Iran.

The aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford, now under construction, is slated to replace the Enterprise in 2015.

The official inactivation ceremony for Enterprise will take place on Dec. 1. The carrier will remain at Norfolk for about six months to have equipment off-loaded and then will be towed to the Huntington Ingalls docks in Newport News, Va., to defuel its nuclear reactors.

The ship will later be towed again to the Puget Sound Nava Shipyard in Washington state to be dismantled and have its metal sold for scrap. The entire process will take about four years, the Navy has said.

Enterprise has achieved a number of firsts since putting to sea in 1961. She was the first nuclear-powered carrier and was key to America’s initial response to 9/11. The Enterprise was returning from a Persian Gulf deployment in September 2001 when the carrier was ordered to reverse course and launch the first strike sorties against al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

As she returned to Norfolk this time, Enterprise was the second oldest commissioned ship in the Navy after the three-masted wood frigate Constitution (Old Ironsides), which was launched in 1797.

Impact from the storm includes fallen trees, scattered debris, some property damage, minor flooding and power outages.

"The entire joint base's preparation efforts went a long way toward mitigating serious damage," said Maj. Chris Wedewer, 87th Civil Engineer Squadron, operations flight chief. "A majority of the facilities and base housing units on McGuire and Lakehurst have full power. Several power lines were downed by the storm and as a result, most of Dix remains without power. The downed power lines do pose a hazard, but we're working to get them repaired as soon as possible."

The base continues to house 300 U.S. Coast Guard recruits from Cape May, N.J., in addition to providing an installation support base for FEMA Region II and III. FEMA Region II serves New Jersey and New York while FEMA Region III serves Washington D.C., Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

"FEMA will continue recovery efforts for the central and southern New Jersey area from JB MDL as long as necessary," said Bill Douglass, external affairs specialist at FEMA, Region II. "FEMA will also be actively engaged throughout New York, just as it was through much of last year and this, helping communities recover from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee in both New York and New Jersey."

In spite of current limitations, base personnel will resume normal operating hours Wednesday.

"The efforts by a small group of people were phenomenal," said Col. Jeffery Doll, Army Support Activity-Dix commander. "I fully expect the recovery effort at our ranges to be completed within 24 hours and for training to resume once power is restored to our facilities."

Evacuated aircraft are also preparing to return to the installation from their temporary shelter locations.

"We're just thankful our folks weathered the storm without serious injury and that we continue to support recovery operations in the local area by hosting the FEMA team here," said Col. John Wood, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst commander.